Courses mirror the world of business

While Europe's leaders are pressing on with the enlargement of the European Union despite this month's Irish referendum setback, business schools across Europe are forging alliances both within and beyond the continent.

New or reformulated links between schools reflect the international character of management, where executives move internationally within their company and need to be familiar with the business culture of a number of countries.

Under a validation agreement signed this month between the Paris-based ESCP-EAP European School of Management and City University, London, students who spend one year in each of three countries - the United Kingdom, Germany and France, or the UK, Spain and France - will be awarded City's European MSc in management.

ESCP-EAP dean Jean-Louis Scaringella said: "For the first time, three national educational authorities are validating an integrated, cross-border programme in Europe... It is a pioneering contribution to a genuinely European model of higher education."

City vice-chancellor David Rhind said: "With this agreement, a single institution will deliver to its students three national diplomas."

IESEG School of Management at the Catholic University of Lille runs a five-year MSc with a minimum of one year abroad. Students come from Europe, Australia and North and South America.

IESEG is the European partner of the Gateways programme that brings together three European and three United States institutions to research the role of transnational gateway regions in the evolution of trade and business, and develops relevant courses.

The Reims Management School runs a four-year BSc in management and information technology in collaboration with the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, in Paris.